Never Again Often Comes Too Late...

... If Never At All.
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In Rwanda we as a world community watched as the words "Never Again" fell away. The Hutu militias swept the country with amazingly deadly speed. Rapes, mutilations, and murders earmarked their movement. The machete became their symbol.
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All the while the UN stood helplessly by as the Canadian commander called for help... or if nothing else, permission to engage. The world that April failed to uphold those seemingly hollow words. Never Again.
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Bosnia became a melting pot of ethnic radicals as Europe took a step back. For the first time since World War Two the world watched as death camps were built on European soil. The Serbs were set to destroy their enemies... on ethnic and religious grounds.
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Civilians were targeted while the few combatants Bosnia could field were kept alive as an excuse for Serbian aggression. Muslims in Bosnia were then shipped of to camps or killed outright wherever they could be found. Artillery, grenades, and the infamous AK47 became the Serbian hallmarks.
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We remained silent. Our world leaders left the innocent victims to the wolves. Once again we failed to uphold those two words. Never Again.
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As the Arab Spring amped up we watched as Bahrain began to pit Sunni against Shiites. The stage was set for genocide once again. We got a few news stories about it. Some world leaders may have mumbled something or another about it. But once again we failed to address the issue... we failed to proclaim and stand behind those words "Never Again".
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In Libya the politics of the West out weighed our commitment to preventing and stoping genocide. Instead we seemed to look the other way as arab Libyans began to slaughter their black countrymen. And once again we used the excuse of civil war to mask the ethnic cleansing Libyans engaged in. Worst yet, our support may have contributed to their success in killing on ethnic grounds. We not only failed to stop genocide but also may have supported it.
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Time will tell just how often we have failed in this commitment. We will see in the years to come just how many lives need be lost before we actually act upon those words. Until then we must hold our governments and ourselves responsible for our shortcomings.
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Never Again